1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to image processing apparatus and method having a function to add additional information to an input image and relates to a storage medium in which such a method has been stored.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, the performance of an image processing apparatus such as a color printer, color copying apparatus, or the like has been improved and an image of a high picture quality can be provided. Thus, an image can be formed with a picture quality almost similar to that of a bill, securities or the like.
However, the formation of such an image is prohibited and it is necessary to suppress such illegal behavior. As one countermeasure for this purpose, there has been known a technique to bury a dot pattern showing numbers (information such as manufacturing number, product number, user ID, and the like) which are peculiar to the image processing apparatus into each image to be formed. By performing such a process, even if an image is illegally formed, by analyzing the dot pattern buried in the formed image, various situations at the time when the image was formed can be also known.
The dot pattern is periodically buried into the whole image every predetermined period. Therefore, even if only a part of the image exists, since the information has been buried in this partial portion, the search of the various information as mentioned above can be executed.
To perfectly search the various information, an area of the partial portion in the image needs to be set to an area corresponding to at least one period among the above periods.
A conventional adding method of the dot pattern (additional information) as mentioned above differs among every manufacturer who manufactures each of the image processing apparatuses. To decode the additional information such as a manufacturing number and the like on the basis of a certain formed image, it is necessary to sequentially use a decoding method corresponding to the adding method of each manufacturer.
However, hitherto, there is a problem such that the additional information (manufacturing number, product number, user ID, and the like) added to the image which is finally formed cannot be decoded at all due to a cause such that the image process of the input image has some periodic trouble, the original image contents are periodic, or the like.
Particularly, the problem as mentioned above is likely to occur in the case where an area of the formed image is small like a stamp or the like rather than the case where an area of the formed image is large like a bill or the like.
Hitherto, in the case where the number of manufacturers who manufacture the apparatuses is large, there is a problem such that a load to sequentially use the decoding methods as mentioned above is large. In particular, such a problem typically appears in case of performing the above decoding by a software process or the like.
The invention is made in consideration of the foregoing conventional technique and it is an object to provide an adding technique for enabling additional information to be certainly decoded from an image obtained by adding two or more kinds of additional information has been added to an input image so that it is difficult to discriminate by the human eyes.
For example, it is an object of the invention to enable information having a high significance to be decoded as much as possible in case of burying two or more kinds of additional information into an input image.
To accomplish the above objects, according to one preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising:
adding means for periodically adding first additional information to an input image by a first period so that it is difficult to discriminate by the human eyes and for periodically adding second additional information different from the first additional information by a second period different from the first period so that it is difficult to discriminate by the human eyes; and
output means for outputting the image to which predetermined additional information was added by the adding means to an image forming unit.
According to another embodiment, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising:
adding means for adding information consisting of first additional information and second additional information to an input image every unit area which is periodically assigned;
switching means for switching a positional relation between an area showing the first additional information and an area showing the second additional information in the unit area; and
output means for outputting the image to which predetermined additional information was added by the adding means to an image forming unit.
According to still another embodiment, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising:
adding means for adding first additional information to an input image by a first method so that it is difficult to discriminate by the human eyes and for adding second additional information by a second method so that it is difficult to discriminate by the human eyes; and
output means for outputting the image to which predetermined additional information was added by the adding means to an image forming unit,
wherein the first additional information is information which can specify the second method.
According to further another embodiment, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising:
adding means for adding first additional information including an error correction code having a first error correcting ability to an input image so that it is difficult to discriminate by the human eyes and for adding second additional information including an error correction code having a second error correcting ability different from the first error correcting ability so that it is difficult to discriminate by the human eyes; and
output means for outputting the image to which predetermined additional information was added by the adding means to an image forming unit.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings.